Means for lubricating steam-engines



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

-N. P. BURNHAM.

MEANS FOR LUBRIGATING STEAM ENGINES.

Patented Feb. 23, 1886.

WITNESSES INVENTOR Jvhlhan Eliurnham.

, By his fltto eys (No'ModeL) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

N. F. BUR'NHAM.

MEANS EOE LUBRIOATING STEAM ENGINES. No. 336,838. Patented Feb. 23, 1886.

WITNESSES INVENTOR UNITED STATES Z ATENT Fries.

NATHAN F. BURNHAM, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 336,838, dated February 23, 1886.

Application filed October 7. 1885. Serial No. 179,252. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN F. BURNHAM, acitizen of the United States, residing in the borough of York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Lubricating Steam-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to effect a perfect lubrication of the parts of the engine by gradual or drop-by-drop feeding of the oil to the parts when the engine is running.

The particular engine illustrated and described herein forms the subject-matter of another application for Letters Patent filed by me simultaneously herewith, and this application is confined to the lubricating devices. My present improvements, however, may be applied to engines differing in details of con struction from that shown in'the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse section of my improved engine; Fig. 2, a detail view showing the oiling devices for the main shaft; Fig. 3, a plan view of the cross-head or slide-head with the pitman-rod and guide in section. Fig. 5 is a detached elevation of the slide-head; and Fig. 4 is a view, partly in section, showing the slidehead in the guide, the View being at right angles to that shown in Fig. 5.

A A are upright standards, four such standardstwo at each end-being employed in this machine, and B is the cap-plate, which is securely bolted to the standards in any suitable way. The steam-cylinder G is bolted to the under side of the cap-plate, and depends or is suspended therefrom. The piston-rod 0 passes through a stuffing-box in the lower cylinderhead, and is secured to the slide-head D,which works in the guide D. The slide head is formed with two depending lugs, d d, which carry a pin, f, on which the connecting-rod F has its bearing. These lugs slide in contact with the sides of the cylindrical guide D. This guide is cylindrical,and is slotted on its oppo-.

tank, K, is conveniently 1ocatedas, for instance, on the lower flange of the steam-cylinderand has extending from its bottom a pipe, it, which terminates just over an aperture, is, in the cover-plate g on the slide-head. The pipe It is filled with wicking, so that the lubricating material is delivered drop by drop into the aperture k. The fibrous material in the chamber 011 top of the slide-head becomes saturated, and the oil is fed little by little through the apertures it along the oilinggrooves 13, thus thoroughly lubricating the bearing of the slide-head in the guide D. A pipe, Z, communicating with the oil-chamber on the top of the slide-head, extends through the head and projects below it, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. This pipe also contains a wick, the projecting end of which is in proper relation to the cup-shaped mouth of a tube, m, which leads to the bearing of the connecting-rod pin f. As the connecting-rod oscillates, therefore, the oil will, drop by drop, be scraped from the end of the wick and the bearing kept constantly lubricated. The crank-pin or connection of the connecting-rod F with the main shaft is lubricated in a similar manner by oil from a tank, N, from which a tube containing a wick depends in such relation to the sharpedged mouth of a tube, 0, carried by the connecting-rod and leading t6 the crank-pin bearing, that the oil is shaved from the end of the wick drop by drop upon each revolution of the crank. The bearings P on the main shaft at each end of the casing are lubricated by oil from a tank, Q, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The casing of the engine R, where the main shaft passes through it, is bent or spun outinto a hub-like projection, R, as seen in Fig. 2. The bearing of the shaft 1? extends into this hub-like projection, and a sharp-edged collar or ring, S, fixed on the shaft, is interposed between the bearing and the side of the casing. By this construction oil is prevented from passing endwise along the shaft to the exterior of 100 the casing. It comes in contact with the sharp-edgedlring S, and falling or being thrown off from its periphery is drained off through a channel, 8, into the oil bowl or receptacle S, formed in the base of the engine.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of the slide-head, the oiling-chamber in the top of the slide-head, the oil-apertures h, and the oiling-grooves 2'. a

2. The combination of the slide-head, the oiling-chamber formed in the top thereof, the apertures h leading from said chamber, the oiltank K, and the distributing-pipe 7c.

3. The combination ofan oil-tube containing a filling of flexible or absorbent material which projects from the end thereof, and an 0i1-feeding tube carried by some moving part of the engine which sweeps past the end of the relatively stationary tube and scrapes the oil off at each movement of the part.

4. The combination of the slide-head, the main shaft, the connecting-rod, the bearing of the connecting-rod in the slide-head and on the main shaft, an oil-feeding tube carried by the connecting-rod and leading to its upper bearing in the slide-head, asimilaroil-feeding tube carried by the connecting-rod or by the crank on the main shaft and leading to the bearing of the connecting-rod on the main shaft, and relatively stationary oil-distributing tubes, having wicks projecting from the ends thereof placed in such relation to said oil-feeding tubes that the latter tubes sweep past the wicks and scrape the oil therefrom at each oscillation of the connectingrod.

5. The combination of the slide-head, the oil-chamber formed in the top of the slidehead and packed with absorbent material, the oil-tank, a pipe through which oil is fed little by little to said chamber, an oil-pipe communicating with said chamber and leading to the under side of the slide-head and having a wick projecting from the end thereof, and the movable oil-tube carried by the connecting-rod and leading to its bearing in the slide-head.

6. The combination of the main shaft, its bearing and oiling devices, the casing of the engine, the sharp-edged ring interposed between the bearing and the side of the casing, and the oil-channel s.

In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto subscribed my name.

NATHAN F. BURNHAM.

Witnesses:

WM. GILBERTHORP, WM. BEITZEL. 

